The Curse of the Highwayman
by actualhippo
Summary: When Fem!Romano took a maid position at Spain's house, she had no idea they would end up switching bodies at the hands of a dangerous highwayman. Fem!Romano/Spain with mentions of Fem!Italy/Germany. Human names used. Rating for Romano's language and possible sexual themes in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello Everyone! This is my first time to ever post a fanfic so please help me out and review so I can improve!**

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The villa almost glowed in the warm light of the setting Spanish sun. It had taken a day's travel to get here and Lovina Vargas was exhausted. Yet, she couldn't help but admire the beauty of her employer's home. The pinkish stone and the tiled roof gave her a warm sort of feeling. _This is home now,_ she thought to herself.

After her nonno passed away two years ago, she and her twin sister had taken odd jobs wherever they could to support themselves. But what ever they did, pleasant, or not so much, they did it together. They were the only family they had left. Now, Feliciana had abandoned her for that wretched German. He had money, and Feli no longer had to work as a bottom-feeding scullion. Lovina was at least thankful for that. Her sister was never cut out for the life of the poor. Her sorella had the life of a refined lady now, just like she deserved. But now Lovi was alone. Of course, her sister offered for her to come live with her and Ludwig, but Lovina's pride prevented her from accepting their charity. This was the third maid job she had taken since Feli left and she couldn't afford to be fired again. _I have to take whatever shit this bastard throws at me,_ She resolved. _Even if it kills me. _

Lovina lifted the heavy, brass knocker and gave the solid front door a confident knock. A girl a little older than her with a distinctly cat-like smile opened the door almost immediately.

"You must be Lovina!" The girl said clapping her hands together excitedly. Lovina tried to smile back at her, but the girl's sweetness was a little much for her. She cracked a very forced grin. "I'm Bella," The girl continued adjusting her green headband against her sandy brown hair. "I'm a maid for Mr. Carriedo as well, and I'll be showing you your duties." She extended a small hand. Lovina looked at it with disinterest.

"Mr. Carriedo won't even greet me himself? That's promising." She said curtly. Bella laughed nervously before leading her inside. Lovina found herself in a cavernous entry hall, flooded with natural orange light from the sunset. The ceiling was riddled with skylights, which made the large hall seem even more open. Lovina imagined that it would be quite a frightening place to be in the dark.

"This way, Lovina," Bella said taking a left. Lovina hefted her suitcase with a groan of effort and followed after her. The next corridor looked similar to the last, full of skylights providing natural glow to the cold, stony walls. _It must be easy to get lost in here. _She thought to herself. The corridor seemed to go on forever and as she followed Bella, Lovina couldn't help but notice how beautiful the girl was. Her wavy, light-brown hair bounced as she walked, and although her green maid uniform was modest, it accentuated her petite frame. She couldn't have been more than twenty-five. Suddenly, Lovina felt very self-conscious. At only eighteen she was a little curvier than Bella, and she was sure her mahogany curls were messy from travel. And there was that particularly stubborn curl on the right side of her head that never behaved. She tried in vain to smooth it out as she walked.

"Ah, here we are." Bella said cheerily as they reached the end of the hallway. "This will be your room."

"I get my own room?" Lovina asked, dumbfounded. In her previous jobs, there were several maids to a small, often decrepit room, and even at her home in Italy she shared a room with her sister.

"Yes, Mr. Carriedo-er-Antonio, doesn't have many servants, so he wants us to live as comfortably as possible."

"Humph." _Or he's up to something. _Lovina thought cynically,_ Bella's on a first name basis with her master? That's not suspicious at all. _She couldn't complain yet though, having her own room was a luxury. She pushed open the heavy oak door and saw a good-sized room with a large four-poster bed draped in deep red curtains. The room was very plush with a large chair, desk, and armoire as well. On the bed she found a maid uniform identical to Bella's only in pastel red with a headband to match. She held up the dress and wrinkled her nose. She didn't know what she expected, but she had always found maid outfits a little degrading, no matter how modest they were.

"Don't worry about that now," Bella said, smoothing out her own uniform. "You don't start until morning. Now, let me show you what your duties will be before supper."

Bella led her through the villa and showed her which areas she was responsible to clean, including the living room, library, and dining room. The villa had large windows, most of which were lined by tomato gardens. In front of one, there was a tall blonde man watering tomatoes with scowl.

"Who is that man?" She asked, gesturing to the window.

"That's my brother, Lars!" She chirped as she skipped over to the window. Bella waved at Lars vigorously until he looked up and stuck his tongue out at her for a fraction of a second before returning to his scowl and his watering. "Lars is such a joker." Bella said giggling to herself.

"Oh yeah, he seems like quite the comedian." Lovina retorted rolling her eyes. Bella must not have noticed, because she nodded in agreement and continued to lead Lovina through the house.

"Oh, and there's one more room that you'll be responsible for," Bella said leading her down a more narrow hall flanked with sconces. Despite all the candlelight, it was darker here, and far more ominous. There was a figure at the end of the hall in a ragged white shirt lifting a large crate of tomatoes and making their way towards them.

"Bella!" He called breaking into a jog. "You look lovely as ever." He said setting down his crate in front of them. His face was obscured by the shadows created by the candlelight and he looked kind of sinister. "Is this our little Lovi?" He said poking Lovina's nose.

"Hands off, bastard." She snapped, raising her hands defensively. Only her sorella called her that and she did not take kindly to being touched by strange men. "Who is this jerk anyway?" She asked turning to Bella.

"That's um…" Bella toyed with the hem of her dress. "That's Mr. Carriedo." She squeaked. Lovina's amber eyes widened with shock and fear.

"How many times have I asked you to call me Antonio, Bella?" He chuckled. "I see we have ourselves a feisty one huh? He said grinning. Lovina could feel the red creeping up her cheeks and looked down in shame. She couldn't believe she had already insulted her boss, and she hadn't even started working yet. If he was really this much of a creep, she would have to censor herself. She needed this job.

"I was just about to show Lovina to your room, Mr…Antonio." Bella said awkwardly.

"His _room?"_ Lovina blurted loudly.

"Well someone has to do the dirty work." Antonio smiled wider. The shadows on his face caused him to look even more demonic. "Bella insisted that I get someone else to clean my messes if I was hiring again." Lovina shot Bella a look so fowl that it caused her to take a couple of steps back. "I'll show her the rest of the way, Bel. Get Lars to carry this to the kitchen for me." He finished carelessly nudging the crate aside with a socked foot. Bella smiled and bowed slightly before disappearing down the dimly lit corridor.

"This way Lovi!" He said making a large, sweeping arm motion for her to follow him.

"Mr. Carriedo, I'd really appreciate it if-"

"Call me Antonio, Lovi."

"Fine." She began again, annoyed. "Antonio. I'd really appreciate it if you didn't call me that."

"Call you what, Lovi?" He asked absently. Lovina bit her tongue to hold back a cry of frustration and insults. "Welcome to mi habitación!" He said pushing the heavy oak door open with one hand. His room was at least twice the size of Lovina's and probably ten times as ornate. Gold molding lined the painted ceiling adorned with naked cherubs and a crystal chandelier hung low over the massive bed. But despite how beautiful the room should have looked, it was marred by its complete state of disarray. There were chairs overturned and clothes were scattered everywhere. She thought she saw a pair of underwear on the chandelier but she was too embarrassed to inspect it further.

"How can you live like this?" She muttered, not expecting him to hear.

"Oh it's not usually like this." He stepped into the light. He was a little short for a man, but muscular. His green eyes shone with warmth under his loose, messy, brown, curls. He was not the intimidating figure she thought he was in the hall. In fact, Lovina thought Antonio looked quite harmless. "My friends Gilbert and Francis were here a few nights ago, but It's been busy and then that rotten Englishman…" He trailed off as he noticed her confused expression. "But now I have you to clean it up!" He finished with a sunny smile.

"Right." She answered curtly. _Entitled bastard._ She thought bitterly. _He even thinks he's above cleaning up after himself._

"You'll be responsible for my laundry, sweeping the floors, cleaning the windows, and you may have to get on the bed every once in a while to-"

"_Excuse me?"_ She demanded, rage bubbling hot inside her. "You may be my boss you philandering Spaniard, but if you even think for a second that you'll be able to take advantage of me you have another thing coming! Idiota!"

"I just-" Antonio backed away from her, but she grabbed him by his shirt.

"You listen to me, bastard. I am your maid not your puttana." She recalled how her previous employers had treated her and shuddered. She'd rather be out on the street than become like so many of her previous co-workers.

"Lovina, that's enough!" His stern tone caught her attention and she froze. His once bright expression had turned severe and she was a little frightened. He pried himself out of her grip. "The chandelier." He said jerking his head toward the ceiling. "The easiest way to clean it is if you stand on my bed."

Lovina felt the color rushing to her cheeks and her eyes began to well with tears. She had really screwed up now. She looked down to hide her tears. "I-I-" She stammered.

"I imagine you'll want to wash up before supper." He said unsmiling. He opened the door and crossed his arms.

_I must have really offended him. _She thought shuffling out of the room. _I'm such an idiot._ She chided herself before he slammed the door behind her.

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**Thanks for reading! Please review! I need all the help I can get. **


	2. Chapter 2

**FINALLY AN UPDATE!**

**I'm really sorry guys... I'll try to update much quicker in the future.**

**Thanks to everyone who followed/favorited/reviewed! ^J^**

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Antonio splashed his face with cool water from his basin and faced himself in the mirror. _Get it together, Tonio. _He glared at his reflection. Had he been too harsh? He shook his head and toweled off his face and damp curls. No, she called him bastard. Twice. He tried his best to be kind to his servants, even Lars, who scared him just a little. But, he was still the master of this house and should be treated as such. In fact, he probably had let her off too easy. He didn't even give her any extra chores or punishment at all! _What's gotten into me?_ She looked so upset though. Had she been abused by one of her employers in the past? He noticed his expression soften in the mirror and he slapped his cheek lightly. _You're going soft. _He told his reflection. _Stop it._

He crossed the room to his armoire._ Okay, what says señor jefe_? He asked himself as he examined his wardrobe. He needed to look the part if he wanted Lovina's respect. He selected a white shirt with ruffles he had gotten as a gift from his friend, Francis. _Francis knows how to dress well. _He thought as he slipped it on. The red and gold jacket he inherited from his father would do nicely too. He decided to leave the faint coating of evening stubble on his face. He thought he looked boyish without it, and he wanted to look his full twenty-eight years.

After a final check in the mirror he felt a slight flutter in his stomach as he reached for the gilded door handle. Was he nervous? _No. Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo was never nervous. I wasn't nervous when I stood by my father to defend this villa from those English thieves and I am certainly not nervous about seeing some little Italian maid! _He thought, banishing the notion. Antonio threw open the door to his bedroom huffily and marched toward the dining room.

He saw Lovina standing at the end of the corridor looking around in confusion. _She must be lost._ He thought, annoyed he'd have to speak with her so soon. He noticed that she wasn't wearing the same tattered work clothes she was wearing when she arrived. Instead she had donned a high-necked pink gown with plenty of white ruffles. It looked old, but it was probably one of the nicer dresses the poor girl owned. And he had to admit she looked stunning in it. She had combed the knots out of her hair and her silky burnt umber curls ended right below her shoulder blades. But, there was one curl on the right side of her head that refused to be tamed. Despite himself, his stomach fluttered again. She turned and saw him coming towards her, a small cry of surprise escaping her lips. Her cheeks flushed immediately and she directed her gaze toward the floor.

"Oh, uh, good evening Mr. Antonio…sir." She stammered, glancing up at him. He meant to answer her coldly, as she deserved, but somehow all of his spite melted when her large amber eyes met his verdant ones.

"Hello, Lovi." He replied giving her a small, warm smile. She flushed again, deciding the floor was a better place to direct her gaze. "Are you lost?" he asked bending slightly in an attempt to see her face.

"No!" She backed away from him. He opened his mouth and raised his hand to point down the hall, but she cut him off before he began. "I don't need your help, ba… boss." She corrected herself. His eyes narrowed.

"Right." He said dismissively, his annoyance with her flooding back to him. Antonio looked back at her just as he turned to leave and sighed with defeat. _Damn chivalry. _"Well," he started back toward her, hands folded behind his back innocently. "Perhaps you can accompany me to dinner, since you know the way after all." He asked, offering her his arm.

"Fine." She replied ignoring his extended arm. Antonio looked at her expectantly. "Lead on, boss." She grumbled at him. He smirked to himself as he turned to lead her through his villa.

They arrived in the dining room to find Bella and Lars waiting beside the large, claw-footed table. The siblings exchanged a confused glance upon seeing Antonio and Lovina enter. Antonio noticed immediately that neither Lars nor Bella had dressed up for dinner. In fact, they were still in their work clothes. Bella cocked her head at him in a questioning manner. _We never dress up for dinner_. He realized suddenly, eyes widening. So why had he? He shot a sideways glance at Lovina. She had dressed up too. But then, she didn't really know any better. He cursed himself silently. He had barely known Lovina an hour and she was already messing with his head. _Get it together, Tonio._

"You two look so nice!" Bella exclaimed, giving Antonio a knowing look. He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Thanks, Bel. You do too." He grinned at her, trying to hide his inner discomfort. Her lips curved into her cat-like smile and she raised her eyebrows at him before taking her seat at the table. Antonio wanted very badly to smack himself in the forehead. He looked at Lovina again. She was standing in the far corner of the room, crossing her arms and looking sullen. She shouldn't have looked pretty. Her eyebrows were furrowed so low that they almost obscured her eyes and her mouth was so downturned that it caused her chin to jut out awkwardly. Yet, he kept staring at her, mouth slightly open. Lars suddenly obscured his view of her, and Antonio shook his head violently, sitting down at the head of the table.

"Lovina." Lars said in his low, monotone voice. "You may sit by me." Antonio thought he was going to break his own neck from how quick he whipped his head around to glare at him. Lars pulled out the only available chair at the table and made a small gesture for her to sit.

"Okay, whatever." She said taking her seat. "Thanks, blondie." Antonio thought he saw a hint of a smile on his face before he disappeared into the kitchen. No, that couldn't be right. He had never seen the Dutch man smile. _GET IT TOGETHER, TONIO._ He shouted at himself internally, rubbing his eyes.

"So Lovina," Bella began, smiling widely at the younger girl. "How do you like it here so far?"

"It's nice." Lovina replied, twirling her un-tamed curl around her forefinger. Bella looked at her expectantly. Lovina groaned, annoyed that two-word answers didn't seem to suffice for Bella. "It's a pretty house." She continued she glanced at Antonio briefly before snapping her attention back to Bella. "But has to be a pain to clean all of it." She finished with a huff of distaste.

"It won't be so bad with the two of us working together!" Bella chirped back merrily.

"Bella's been begging me to hire another girl for ages." Antonio added chuckling. "You should be thankful you don't have to clean it all by yourself!" He said, shaking a finger playfully at Lovina. She looked like she wanted to stab him with her spoon.

Lars reentered the room then in a frilly apron he hadn't been wearing earlier. He carried a large pot in hands clad in oversized oven mitts.

"Blondie's the cook? I thought he was the grounds keeper." Lovina said, raising her eyebrows in amusement at his cooking attire.

"We take turns to cook." Bella explained. "It used to just be Lars and I on a rotation and sometimes Antonio cooks when the spirit moves." She added giggling.

"Dutch and Belgian food just doesn't have enough tomatoes." Antonio sighed.

"But now you'll help us too!" Bella continued to tell Lovina. "I can't wait to try Italian food!"

"Well, Italian food isn't lacking in the tomato department." She replied, giving Antonio a small smile. Antonio froze, eyes wide. _She smiled at me_. The moment didn't last though. She seemed to realize what she was doing and looked away quickly, scowling harder than ever. Antonio was brought back to reality when Lars scooped a large portion of chunky, green soup into his bowl.

"Snert again, Lars?" Antonio asked, eying the green goop with distaste. Lars glared at him.

"You love my snert." He replied sternly, as he scooped the concoction into everyone else's bowls. _I only said that because I thought you would kill me otherwise._ Antonio thought, grumpily. He poked at the pork and pea stew with disinterest and redirected his attention to his household, who were all eating Lars' goop contentedly. It seemed Lovina couldn't find a way to frown while she was eating, he noticed, smirking slightly.

"So Lovina," Antonio began warmly. "Tell us something about yourself."

"I'm a maid, boss. " She replied sarcastically. Antonio sighed. _Here we go again._ He rubbed his temples and hoped nobody noticed that his eyebrows were twitching slightly. Why did she have to be so difficult?

"Lovi, can I call you Lovi?" Bella asked brightly.

"No." Lovina replied without blinking.

"Um…okay! Do you li-" Lars cut her off with a small wave of his hand.

"Lovina." He began, with an unreadable expression. "What was Italy like?" he asked, stony faced. Antonio held his breath as Lovina glared at Lars in silence, but finally she decided to answer him.

"It's better than here." She huffed, "No offense," She added lamely, glancing at Antonio with a less than half-hearted shrug. She lazily watched a glob of snert slide off of her spoon and back into her bowl with disinterest.

"My food is for eating, not for playing." Lars glowered. Antonio almost put an offensive spoonful in his mouth to placate him before Bella slapped Lars' shoulder playfully.

"Be nice, Lars." She pipped "Lovina is a sweet girl!" Lovina's and Antonio's mouths both hung slightly open in response to that ridiculous statement before Lovina shook her head.

"My sister is the sweet one. I don't have time to be sweet." She jabbed the table with her forefinger. "_I_ have to make a living."

"You can make a living and still be perfectly pleasant." Antonio muttered, glancing at Bella who nodded in agreement. Lovina tutted sulkily, deciding not to look at any of them.

"Is your sister older than you?" Antonio asked smiling. He imagined a nicer version of Lovina closer to his own age and couldn't help but smile. "You should follow her example!" He concluded finishing his glass of wine.

"We're twins ba-boss." She huffed, catching herself again. "And I'm the older one for your information." _Twins?_ Antonio's face reddened slightly as his head reflexively filled itself with less than appropriate thoughts.

"I don't know what you're thinking about, but I don't like it!" Lovina shouted at him, interrupting his shameful daydream. "Feliciana is married and her stupid German husband is twice your size, got it?" She bit her lip a little too hard and her scowl was far more threatening than it had been before. Antonio could tell that she was having a rather difficult time holding back a slew of expletives in an attempt to show him respect, and couldn't help feeling both ashamed and a little touched.

"Lo siento, Lovi." He apologized brightly. "A nicer version of you would just be so cute!" He sighed; too bad this Feliciana was already married.

"Nicer, prettier, more talented… she didn't deserve the life we got handed." Lovina said seriously. She was still frowning, but she looked more sad than angry. "As much as I hate the Potato Bastard, she'll have a good life with him… if he doesn't fuck up." She concluded smiling slightly. _She has a big heart._ Antonio realized suddenly.

Lovina looked up to find everyone staring at her with odd expressions. It looked like…pity. She didn't need this shit. "May I be excused." She blurted, standing up abruptly. It wasn't a question. Antonio nodded at her with confusion. He looked like a puppy, which only irritated her further. She stormed out of the dining room without a backwards glance.

_I don't need their fucking pity._ She thought angrily as she marched to her bedroom. _I can take care of myself just fine, damn it! _She felt the tears coming again. She missed Italy, she missed her grandpa, and most of all, she missed Feli. Although Lovina was now part of a full household, she had never felt so alone.

She looked up at her surroundings and broke down crying. She was lost again. She sat down in the middle of the dark, stone corridor and tried to will her tears to stop, but they just kept flowing, thick and unbridled. She just wanted everything to be the way it was before her nonno died.

"Lovina, is that you?" She heard a soft voice call from behind her. She quickly tried to wipe her face, but a large, warm hand was already on her shoulder. She turned around to see Antonio crouching down with concern. "Bella went to check on you but you weren't in your room." She tried to answer him. _Go away bastard, _She wanted to say, but her tears refused to remain silent and she was suddenly gasping for air shaking with sobs. "Lovina…" His eyebrows knitted with sympathy as she looked up at him, completely helpless. Instinctively, she flung herself into his arms. Antonio's eyes widened in shock, but he held her tightly and hummed softly until her sobs eventually died away.

"I guess you're not a bastard." She said finally.

"I guess that's good." He replied smiling down at her. She glared at him again.

"You better not tell anyone about this." She threatened, menacingly. He got up and brushed the dust off of his knees.

"Not a soul." He said putting his forefinger to his lips. He offered her his hand to help her up but she refused it, and stood up shakily.

"And I don't want you asking questions about this either, got it?" She growled at him. He mimed locking his lips and throwing away the key with a caring smile.

"Shall I show you to your room?" He asked, eyes earnest.

"No!" She blurted quickly. He cocked her head at her. "But if you're going that way, I guess I could follow you..." She trailed off and stared at her feet sheepishly. Maybe she wasn't so alone after all.

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**Thanks for reading!**

**Please review. I need help lol.**

**Snert is a real Dutch food. I didn't make it up.**


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